MILLIONS of mobile and broadband customers will see their bills rise within weeks and months.
Many phone and internet providers hike their monthly prices each year to combat their own rising costs.
GettyBroadband and mobile phone deals are going up for millions later this year[/caption]Prices usually rise in March or April in line with inflation, however some will see theirs rise by a different metric this year.
Regulator Ofcom brought in new rules on January 17 meaning providers have to set out what any mid-contract price rises will be in pound and pence on any new deals.
The change has been brought in so customers know exactly how much their bills will go up by when signing up for a deal.
Some firms brought in the new way of displaying mid-contract price rises before January 17 while others are yet to.
Also bear in mind, if your firm set a date when any new contracts would rise in pounds and pence and you agreed a deal before this date, you will still likely see your contract rise in line with inflation.
The rules can be complicated and confusing, so we’ve listed off what the major firms are doing this year for mobiles and broadband.
BT and EE
BT and EE Mobile customers will see their prices rise from March 31 this year.
Those who signed up to a deal before April 11, 2024, will see theirs rise by December’s CPI rate of inflation plus 3.9%.
The CPI rate of inflation then was 2.5% meaning bill payers will see costs rise by 6.4%.
For someone paying £10 now, that means their bill will go up to £10.64 from March 31.
However, anyone who signed up to a deal from April 11 onwards will see SIM only mobile plans rise by £1.50 or handset plans by £4.
BT and EE broadband customers will also see their bills rise from March 31.
Those who took out a deal before April 11 last year will have their contracts hiked by 6.4%.
Meanwhile, those who signed up a deal from April 11 will see prices hiked by a flat £3.
Three
Three is increasing the price of mobile phone contracts from April 1.
Those who signed up to a deal before September 8, 2024, will see their bills go up by December’s CPI rate of inflation plus 3.9% – 6.4%.
If you’ve signed up for one since September 8, your contract will increase by between £1 and £1.50, depending on your data usage.
Broadband customers who agreed a new deal before September 8 will see bills rise by 6.4% while those who signed up for one after this date will see theirs hiked by a flat £2.
Tesco Mobile
Tesco Mobile customers will see what they pay rise from April.
Those who signed up a new deal before December 17 will see bills go up by December’s CPI rate of inflation plus 3.9% – 6.4%.
Cut mobile and broadband costs
Check whether you can save potentially hundreds of pounds a year on your broadband by switching to a different provider.
Which? research found, on average, out-of-contract TV and broadband customers could save £160 by switching.
Meanwhile, TV and broadband customers who haggled with their current provider rather than switching saved £117 on average.
It’s worth checking if you qualify for a social tariff as well, available to those on certain benefits like Universal Credit.
They’re usually cheaper than standard broadband packages and could save you up to £456 a year.
Social tariffs are not just offered by broadband providers either – you can get them for mobile phones too.
You can find out the list of providers that offer either type of tariff on the Ofcom website.
If you’re looking for a TV, broadband and phone deal, it can often work out cheaper buying a bundle package combining them all too.
Those who signed up a deal from December 17 will see bills rise under Tesco’s “proportional” model which is based on a customer’s monthly tariff.
The mobile network said that someone on a £14.99-a-month deal would see their monthly contract price increase by 90p in April.
Customers on a £30 a month deal would see their basic monthly price increase by £1.80 from the same date.
These increases suggest that the typical cost of a customer’s contract will rise 6% from April 2025.
Clubcard customers will avoid mid-contract price rises altogether.
O2
O2 is hiking prices on its mobile phone tariffs from April 1.
A customer who signed up a deal before January 9 will see their contract rise based on January’s RPI rate of inflation plus 3.9%.
January’s RPI rate of inflation is set to be published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on February 19.
Those who agreed a new SIM-only deal from January 9 onwards will see their contracts rise by a flat £1.80.
Those on handset plans won’t see their price rise from April 1.
Vodafone
Vodafone is hiking the price of its mobile phone tariffs on April 1 as well.
Anyone who took out a new deal before July 2, 2024, will see their monthly costs go up based on the January CPI measure of inflation plus 3.9%.
The January CPI measure of inflation is being published by the ONS on February 19.
Those who signed up for a new deal from July 2 will see their contracts go up by £1 if on a basic plan or £1.50 if not.
Vodafone broadband customers will see their bills go up by January’s CPI inflation rate plus 3.9% if they took out a deal before July 2.
Anyone who took one out after this date will see theirs go up by £3.
iDmobile (Three)
The firm is upping the price of its phone deals from April 1, based on CPI inflation in February, which will be published on March 26.
This affects those on a pay-monthly contract.
Customers with a SIM-only contract won’t see their price hiked midway through.
Sky Mobile (O2)
Sky Mobile is hiking prices for up to one million customers within weeks.
The provider is increasing both pay monthly and SIM-only contracts from February 14.
All customers who are out of contract will see their monthly bill rise by a fixed amount of £1.50 a month.
However, customers who are still within their contract term will not experience any change in their bills.
Plusnet
Plusnet is hiking the price of its broadband deals from March 31.
If you took out a contract before July 11 last year you’ll see it go up by the December CPI measure of inflation plus 3.9%, so 6.4%.
Anyone who took out a contract after July will see their deals go up by £3 from the end of March.
TalkTalk
TalkTalk is hiking prices for internet customers on April 1.
If you took out a deal before August 12, 2024, you’ll see it rise by the December CPI measure of inflation plus 3.9% – 6.4% again.
If you signed up for a contract from August 12, your monthly charge will rise by £3.
Community Fibre
Customers will see their prices hiked on April 1.
Those who took out a deal before November 5 will see it rise by the January CPI measure of inflation plus 2.9%.
Those who agreed on a contract from November 5 onwards will see prices hiked by £2.
Firms that don’t implement mid-contract price hikes
A number of firms aren’t hiking their prices this year so customers will continue paying the same amount each month.
Asda Mobile, Giffgaff and Superdrug Mobile are some of the firms freezing prices. This is the full list:
Asda Mobile (Vodafone) Giffgaff (O2) Lebara (Vodafone) Lycamobile (EE) SMARTY (Three) Superdrug Mobile (Three) Talkmobile (Vodafone) VOXI (Vodafone) Hyperoptic (broadband)Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
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